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New Silverstone layout is the pits for supporters of ‘big three’

Kevin Eason

July 9 2011, 1:01am, The Times

The finger has been pointed at Bernie Ecclestone for flaws in the design of SIlverstone's new pits and paddock complexPaul Gilham/Getty Images

Thousands of spectators holding some of the most expensive tickets at the British Grand Prix will be left peering over a concrete wall tomorrow in their attempts to get a value-for-money view of the race because of a design flaw in Silverstone’s new £28 million pits and paddock complex.

Fans who filled the new grandstand opposite the pits yesterday quickly discovered that they could see only the tops of the garages belonging to the three leading teams, McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari. In the garages, all the mechanics from those teams can see is a concrete wall — and nothing of the start-finish straight.

Silverstone was taking the flak last night but the finger was pointed at Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One commercial rights-holder and…